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qiviut or qiveut (KEE-vee-uht, KEE-vee-oot) - n., the soft wooly undercoat of the muskox.
As you might expect, given the winter weather muskoxen have to endure, fabric woven from this is very warm. Usually obtained when the animals shed their undercoat in the spring, rather than by shearing, though some commercial qiviut is from pelts of hunted muskoxen. The word is from an Inuit language, probably Inuktitut but possibly Inupiaq, but interestingly the English word is an adoption of the plural form of qiviuq, which is generally any kind of undercoat, including down feathers.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
This is a valid play in Words With Friends, and indeed that's how I learned of it.
---L.
As you might expect, given the winter weather muskoxen have to endure, fabric woven from this is very warm. Usually obtained when the animals shed their undercoat in the spring, rather than by shearing, though some commercial qiviut is from pelts of hunted muskoxen. The word is from an Inuit language, probably Inuktitut but possibly Inupiaq, but interestingly the English word is an adoption of the plural form of qiviuq, which is generally any kind of undercoat, including down feathers.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
This is a valid play in Words With Friends, and indeed that's how I learned of it.
---L.
